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THE PHILANTHROPIST; 

OR 

Political Peace-maker 

BETWEEN 

ALL HONEST MEN OF BOTH PARTIES. 

WITH THE RECOMMENDATION PREFIXED 

BY GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

IN HIS OWN HAND-WRITING. 



. 



X BY M/ L. WEEMS, 

LODGE No. 50, DUMFRIES. 



God prosper long these sister states, 

In union, health, and peace ; 
And grant henceforth that quarrels vile 

'Twixt feds and dems may cease. 
Nor Gaul nor Brit need dear Columbia rue. 
If but Columbia to herself be true. 



THP. tenth edition, price 25 CENTS. 



PHILADELPHIA J 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 

BY T. ^ G. PALMER. 

1809. 






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DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT : 

Be it remembered, that on the first day of January, in the thirty-third 

X— — V year of the independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1809, 

(L. S.)M L. Weems, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the 

^ title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words 

following, to wit t 

[See title-page.] 
In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, intituled, " An 
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, 
and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times 
therein mentioned;" and also to the act intituled " An act supplementary to an 
act, intituled, « An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the co- 
pies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to 
the arts of designings engraving, and fetching historical and other prints." 

p. CALDWELL, 
Clerk of the District of Penn^hani*' 



TO HIS EXCELLENCY 
GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQUIRE, 

LIEUTEN^ANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Most honoured general, 

SCARCELY was I delivered of this young re- 
publican Philanthropist, before I began, according to 
good christian usage, to look about for a suitable god- 
father for it. My thoughts, presumptuously enough, 
I confess, instantly fixed upon you, for fujo reasons : 
First, I was desirous of paying to you (the first bene- 
factor of my country) this little mite of grateful and 
affectionate respect; and, secondly, because I well 
know there exists not, on this side of heaven, the man 
who will more cordially than general Washington ap- 
prove of whatever tends to advance the harmony and 
happiness of Columbia. 

God, I pray him, grant! that you may long live to 
see us all catching from your fair example that reve- 
rence for the Eternal Being, that veneration for the 
laws, that infinite concern for the national union, that 
unextinguishable love for our country, and that insu- 
perable contempt of pleasures, of dangers, and of death 
itself, in its service and defence, which have raised you 
to immortality, and which alone can exalt us to be a 

GREAT and HAPPY REPUBLIC. 

On the square of Justice, and on the scale of Love, 
I remain, most honoured general, your very sincere 
friend, and masonic brother, 

M. L. WEEMS. 



THE PHILANTHROPIST; 



OK 



POLITICAL PEACE-MAKER, 



" In life's disastrous scenes, to others do 

" What you would wish by others done to you. 

" Winds! wide o'er earth the sacred law convey; 

" Ye nations, hear it, and, ye kings, obey !" 

DARWIN. 



ALL MEN ARE EQUAL. 

" SO HO! what the plague have we got here 
now? All men equal ! All men equal! ! ! TVhat, my over- 
see?' equal to me ! Here'^s a pretty love powder for us^ 
truly. An arrant dose of jacobinism., IHl warrant it^ 
sufficient to poison the nation.''^ 

This is just what I apprehended ; for some gentlemen, 
the moment they hear mention of equality., fancy the}^ 
see a host of hungry sans-culottes in full march for deso- 
lation, equalling all property., levelling all distinctions, 
knocking down kings, clapping up beggars, and waving 
the tri- coloured flag of anarchy, confusion, and wretch- 
edness over the ruins of happiness and order. 



6 

From such equality, good Lord, deliver us ! But the 
equality now in question is as different from that, as is a 
" spirit of heaven^ from a goblin damned.'''' 

It is an equality of mutual dependence, of civil obliga- 
tion, of social affection, of dutiful obedience to the laws, 
and of harmonious co- exertion to make ourselves and 
our country happy. 

When I say that all men are equal, I allude not to the 
endowments of mind or body. For, whether we consi- 
der the size, strength, and activity of the latter, or the 
wit, memory, and other faculties of the former, there is 
certainly a surprizing inequality among men. 

As to size, some are dwarfs^, mere pigmies, hafdly a 
match for cranes ; while others, the giant^ sons of earth, 
lift their mighty forms, terrible to look on. 

As to strength, some are so very feeble, that the weight 
of a grasshopper is burthensome ; while others, like Sam- 
son among the Hebrews, or Peter FranciscoJ among our- 
selves, possess a degree of bodily force that is truly asto- 
nishing. 

* Of dwarfs there have been numbers; but Baby, the little French- 
man, born in 1741, is the most remarkable. At his birth, he weigh- 
ed but a pound and a quarter, and was for some time rocked in a 
large slipper, by way of cradle. When full grown, he was just 29 
inches tall, healthy, handsome, and well proportioned. At 22 he 
died of extreme old age ! 

t As to giants, both Ireland and Patagonia have produced a great 
many, 7, 8, and 9 feet high; but Goliath of Gatli out-gianted all 
these by far; for he measured upwards of 1 1 feet, straight rabbet. 

I This extraordinary man has been known to lift a cannon of 
1500 weight, and to throw a stout bully over the pales of a garden 
with great ease. He was at the famous batttle of the Eutaw springs, 
where the gallant Williams, who led the host of Columbia, being 
knocked down, the British grenadiers endeavoured to dispatch him 
on the ground. The Americans and Irish defended him with great 
bravery, and dreadful was the clashing of the bayonets over our 
prostrate hero. He was soon covered with the dead bodies of the 
combatants falling on him. Peter, being an officer, had no other 
weapon than a heavy cutlass, with which, however, he got a blow 
a-piece at four grenadiers. Every blow was ready money to old 
Charon. 



As to aetivitJ/, some men*, swift-footed as the roe-buck, 
can bound across the fields with the motion of the winds, 
scarcely injuring the tender grass in their rapid course ; 
while others, snail slow in progress, can scarcely drag 
their torpid limbs along. 

As to healthy some, blest with constitutions of steel, 
hardly know what sickness means, as was the case of a 
Mrs. Blackeney, an English lady, who on her death- bed 
declared, that, during a life of eighty years, she had never 
felt even a pain of the head ! while others, enervated by 
sloth, strong drink, or strong tea, can seldom get through 
a whole day without making dreadful complaints. 

And as to long life^ millions return to the dust almost 
as soon as they are awakened out of it; while others', like 
superannuated Strulbrugs, live till they are quite tired of 
living : witness Thomas Parr, an old English ploughman, 
who lived to see ten kings and queens rise and fall from 
the throne of England ! Such bubbles are kings com- 
pared to cheerful labourers ! He died, aged 153 years. 
Old Henry Jenkings (of Bolton, England) went a good 
Way beyond Parr, for he lived 169 years. Both of these 
veterans were honest, temperate, hard-working, poor men. 

As to beauty^ some have so much of heaven in their 
looks, that a single glance is enough to electrify with 
delight^ every nerve in our frames, and to throw our 
leaping hearts into the sweetest palpitation ; while others 
are so slightly touched with this divine magnetism, that 
they attract none of our iron race, but are at full liberty 
to point towards heaven, and make angels their admirers. 

" E'en crosses from our Maker's hand 
Are blessings in disguise." 

Equally great is the difference between different per- 
sons, in the powers and qualities of their minds. 

As to courage^ some, like the war-horse, rejoice at the 
sound of the trumpet, and plunge with eagerness into the 

* For example, colonel Daniel Boon, the settler of Kentucky, who, 
in his flight from the Indians, ran upwai'ds of 150 miles in 36 hours. 



8 

thickest battle, declaring, with the mad- cap king of Swe- 
den, that no music equals the whistling of bullets ; while 
others, like delicate court ladies, fall into a tremor at the 
sight of an unloaded gun. 

As to understanding, some are so very dull, that it is a 
hard matter to teach them a sum in the rule of three ; 
while others quickly drink dry the shallow fountains of 
human knowledge, and then boldly strike out into the 
main ocean of the Almighty's works. Witness our great 
Rittenhouse, of whom it was well said by the vice-presi- 
dent of the United States, that, " though he never made 
a world, yet he came nearer to it than any other man ever 
didy And witness, too, our sage Franklin, who, though 
brought up a poor printer's boy, soon learnt the art to 
direct the thunderbolts of heaven, and to bid fierce light- 
nings play harmlessly about our buildings. " E coelo 
fulnien eripuit, sceptraque tyrannis." 

As to eloquence, some, like our famous Patrick Henry, 
can lead the passions of men about, with as much ease as 
a countryman calls his pigs after him ; while another 
hardly has diction sufficient to ease his thumping heart to 
a pretty milk- maid. 

As to humanity, one is so tender hearted, that, like the 
amiable Yorick, he can say to a little captive fly, " go, 
poor thing, there is, surely, room enough in this great 
world for you and tne ; while another can pickle the raw 
hide of a poor slave for breaking a tea- cup ! ! 

As to benevolence, this, like the man of Ross, will sell 
his elegant pictures and plate, to assist his distressed te- 
nant ; while that will distress his tenant, selling even the 
bed from under his sick wife and children, to raise money 
for gaudy pictures and plate. 

Thus there appears a most surprising inequality between 
men, both in mind and body ; an inequality almost as 
great as that between angels and men, or between men 
and children. This inequality is so very striking, that 
some, when told that all men are equal, burst into a 
hearty laugh, treating it as a silly French conceit. Such 
gentlemen will, perhaps, keep up the laugh when they 



9 

hear that this inequality among men, as individuals^ is the 
very cause of their equaUty as a social body. 

" 'Tis mutual wants man's happiness increase, 
And nature's diffrence keeps all nature's peace." 

That great philosopher, Paul of Tarsus, has explained 
this seeming paradox in a most beautiful and masterl}' 
manner. He compares the various members in the 
body of society to the members in the human body : 
" We have all," says he, " many members, in one bo- 
dy — some of these occupy a high place, as the head ; 
some a low, as the feet ; some appear to enjoy great ho- 
nour : the eye which sees beautiful objects, the ear which 
hears sweet sounds ; while others, the poor feet, are 
obliged to plod on the ground, liable to be bruised by 
stones, or defiled by dirt." But, notwithstanding this 
apparently great inequality among the members, they 
have no just cause of pride or discontent. The foot has 
no reason to envy the eye, nor the eye to insult the foot. 
They are all equally dependent on one another, equally 
necessary to the perfection of the body, and to each other's 
welfare. For, what could the eyes do without the feet ? 
Or how could the feet do vv'ithout the eyes ? 

With the like admirable wisdom, God has placed to- 
gether the members which compose the great body of so- 
ciety. Some are rich, some poor; some wise, some ig- 
norant ; some strong, some feeble. These, though seem- 
ingly very unequal, are yet perfectly equal ; in their mu- 
tual dependence, in their absolute need of one another. 
The wise are like eyes, to see for the ignorant ; the 
poor, like the feet, to plod ; some like the head, to con- 
trive : others, like the arms, to execute. Some were 
made to direct ; others to obey ; these, to labour with 
their heads, and those with their hands'. None of these 
can do without the rest. As, in the body, the head can- 
not say to the foot, " I have no need of you ;" so, in so- 
ciety, the richest man, nay, the greatest king cannot say 
to the poorest tradesman, " I have no need of you ;" for 
the laced coat that glitters on his back, the sword which 
graces his side, the chariot in which he rolls, the palace 

B 



10 

wherein he lives, the books that amuse his mind, the 
music that enchants his ear, all these, and the ten thousand 
other conveniences and elegances of this hfe are the joint 
production of as many different artificers. Were it not 
for these ingenious poor men, what would become of the 
greatest monarch on earth? Why, he would soon find 
himself a most necessitous and wretched being. To be 
more sensibly convinced of this, let us suppose the proud- 
est Nebuchadnezzar that ever scoffed contempt on his 
poor subjects to be placed in a situation where he could 
derive no assistance from them, and mark the figure his 
haughty kingship makes. *' With a flint tomahawk he 
hacks down a dozen or two of saplings; these he sets 
up on end, ties at the top, and covers with bark and mud, 
leaving a hole just big enough for himself and his dog to 
creep in and out. This is his wigwam, his castle, his 
palace. In the midst of this he kindles up a fire, around 
which he yawns and dozes away his gloomy winters, 
with no clothes but skins torn from the quivering limbs 
of wolves and bears, no food but acorns and the carcas- 
es of such animals as he has mastered by his club and 
bow, no music but hissing serpents, screaming wild cats, 
or the storm howling through the forest." 

Thus destitute is the condition, thus imperfect and 
miserable the state of the man who has none to help him. 
His abilities, though the greatest ever bestowed on man, 
are infinitely insufficient to procure those innumerable fe- 
licities of which his kind Creator has rendered him capa- 
ble. His body embraces a number ofsenses, such as see- 
ing, hearing, tasting, &c., which are so many pleasant 
inlets to a vast variety of gratifications ; add to this, his 
mind, with its capacities for all the far sublimer pleasures 
of knowledge, virtue, beauty, painting, poetry, harmony, 
&c., so numerous that nature herself, Avith all her ex- 
liaustless treasures, can hardly supply them. 

But how utterly impossible it is for an individual to 
acquire all these things for himself, must instantly occur 
to any one who considers what a world of industry, time, 
and ingenuity it takes to invent and carry to perfection 



li 

a single art or science : then how passing absurd to think 
that any one man, though armed with the strength of 
Samson and the wisdom of Solomon, can manage the 
thousand arts and sciences which exalt the citizen above 
the savage, which sweeten and embellish life, and wliich, 
from the most helpless, of the animal creation, render man 
the lord of the world! No ; this is the work, not of one, 
but of myriads ; a work to be effected by men, not as so- 
litary, scattered individuals, but as the members of a 
compact, all-powerful society. 

Let us now view them in their associated state. Con- 
vinced of their extreme feebleness while alone, they come 
together for mutual safety and benefit. The various ta- 
lents which God has distributed among them individualli/, 
are now brought into the common stock, and exerted for 
the general good. Some contribute great bodily strength, 
others increase that strength by the aid of art and inge- 
nious inventions : the old counsel the young, the wise 
teach the ignorant, the bold encourage the timid; and 
as fifty thousand men, taken individually, have but little 
strength or terror, but, consolidated into an army, fur- 
nished with proper weapons, aided by discipline, and led 
on by brave commanders, they become unspeakably for- 
midable : so, when the talents and strength of thousands 
(though insignificant in the individual) are collected into 
one great social body, aided by arts, and acting in har- 
monious concert, they acquire a force that is truly asto- 
nishing, and can with ease accomplish things beyond the 
reach of imagination. See them now, like a noble band 
of brothers, bending to the glorious toil. The deepest 
mines cannot conceal their precious metals. Furnaces 
and forges begin to blaze and thunder. Iron and steel 
are fashioned into tools. Quarries of stone and marble 
are dug up, and polished for buildings. The strongest 
animals are subdued and put into their service ; the 
bounding horse, the sturdy ox, and even the mighty ele- 
phant lends them all his powers. Nothing can resist their 
force. Old ocean roars and foams in vain. Tall ships 
rise upon the stocks, seek the yielding flood, and plough 



12 

the main in quest of foreign luxuries. The aged forest 
falls beneath their sounding axes. Elegant houses are 
erected ; the fields are ploughed, meadows drained, and 
orchards planted. Adorned with fruits and with flowers, 
the earth smiles like the garden of God. Their barns are 
filled with plenty, and their presses burst out with new 
wine. Royal dainties, even cake^ of wheat-flour, with 
marrow and fatness, are piled upon their tables ; while 
their wardrobes are filled with " purple and fine linen," 
and with silks dyed in the richest colours of the showery 
arch. 

Thus abundantly supplied with all the necessaries and 
conveniences of life, we now get leisure to cultivate the 
fine arts, and to taste of those far sublimer pleasures of 
which God has rendered us capable. Paintuig and print- 
ing are invented, by the help of which we can take a view 
of all the great men and mighty nations, of ancient or mo- 
dern days. Their origin, governments, wars, vices, and 
virtues, with all their interesting consequences, are set be- 
fore us, to our infinite entertainment and instruction. 
Music is studied ; that magic art, whose wondrous notes 
can waken every passion of our souls, and charm our 
senses into rapture. Poetry too is cultivated ; that asto- 
nishing power which transports us out of ourselves, and 
lifts our thoughts to heaven. 

Who, without the sweetest emotions of gratitude and 
rejoicing can cast his eye over this immense feast, this 
royal banquet of delights, which the great Father has 
spread for us his little children ? Or who can meditate, 
though but for a moment, on this pleasing, wondrous 
theme, without feeling that great truth, the natural 
equality of men ? Does not every man, rich or poor, 
equally covet these felicities of life; and is he not, of 
himself, equally unable to procure them ? Are we not 
equal in our ivants^ and equal in our inability to supply 
them without the help of others, and therefore equally de- 
pendent on one another ? Without our brethren we can 
do nothing, no, not even make a hoe or a hatchet : but, 
united with them, supported by their ingenuity and 



3 



strength, we can look on this world, with all Its rich fur- 
niture, as our own, and gratefully exclaim with the poet, 

" For us kind Nature wakes her genial power, 
Suckles each plant, and blossoms every flower. 
Annual for us, the grape, the rose renew 
The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew. 
For us, the mine a thousand treasures brings. 
For us, health gushes from a thousand springs. 
Seas roll to waft us, suns to light us rise, 
Our foot-stool earth, our canopy the skies." 

What virtuous mind can think of these things without 
catching impressions the most desirable, without Jeeling 
sentiments the most tender and benevolent towards his 
fellow-men ? 

We have seen that it is not good for man to be 
alone; that, alone ^ he is a feeble, helpless wretch, liv- 
ing in a world stored with ten thousand blessings, but 
which, Tantalus like, he has not the power to taste ; 
that, alone^ he is but a poor ship-wrecked sailor cast on 
a desolate island, where he is hard put to it for berries 
and roots to keep him from starving : but that, in 
our associated state, we are like a great family of bro- 
thers, whom God has placed together as mutual aids, 
and has endued with suitable talents, giving this to one, 
and that to another, so that we can now most easily 
command all the conveniences and elegances of a 
happy life. O how closely ought these considerations 
to unite us to our species ! how powerfully do they 
bind it upon us to love one another. Is it not as much a 
law of nature that we should love one another, as it is 
that the members of the body should love one another ; 
as that the eyes should love the feet for carrying them 
to gaze on the dear objects of their affections ; or 
that the feet should love the eyes for directing them 
to flowery walks to ramble in ? 

This endearing light, in which Nature herself 
teaches us to view one another, is enough, one would 
think, to banish all hateful passions from our bosoms, 



14 

and, especially, pale heart-sickening envy. Envy ! 
merciful God! Whom shall we envy? Our own 
flesh and blood kindly multiplied into a thousand bro- 
thers, and placed round us on purpose to administer 
to our happiness ! And for what shall we envy them ? 
For those very talents and possessions which God has 
conferred on them for our own good, and which will be 
the tnore for our good, in exact proportion as they pos- 
sess them in a more eminent degree. This were a sin, 
not only against nature, but utterly iinknovjn to nature. 
Do the members of the body ever repine at each 
other's perfections ? Does the foot repine because the 
eye is quick-sighted to see a thousand charming ob- 
jects ; because the ear with admirable nicety can dis- 
tinguish enchanting sounds ; or because the arms are 
strong and able to get an abundance of good things ? 
No ; they rejoice in each other'' s perfections, as in the in- 
struments of their own glory and happiness. In like 
manner, ought not every member of the great body of 
society to rejoice in the perfections of his brother ? 
Am I poor ; ought I not to rejoice that God has be- 
stowed great riches on my neighbour, who can under- 
take works of public usefulness, and give employment 
and bread to thousands of poor men and their families ? 
Am I ignorant ; ought I not to thank God for giving 
my neighbour wisdom to instruct me ? Am I desti- 
tute of genius; utterly incapable of a line of poetry, or 
a bar of music; then, oh! how ought I to love those 
hea'oen-sent bards, Milton, Ossian, Handel, Sec, whose 
magic fancies, like Moses' wand striking the rock, 
can melt our hearts, and call forth the delicious floods 
of admiration and delight ? Am I timid and fearful, 
easily frightened out of my rights; ought I not to be 
thankful that my neighbour has courage to rise up in 
my behalf, and to defend me against him who would 
be too strong for me ? Am I rich, never so rich ; I 
have equal cause of gratitude that I am not left to 
starve amidst my piles of guineas and half-joes, but 



15 

that God has kindly placed around me thousands of 
poor brothers, all ready, this with his strength^ that 
with his ingenuity; one with this charming art, another 
with that^ to add to me all the comforts and pleasures 
of life ? And, indeed, if I be wise, I shall thank God 
more cordially for distributing these talents among my 
brethren, than if they were all concentred in myself. 
For, had I the talents to become as great a soldier as 
Washington, as great a statesman as Jefferson, as pro- 
found a philosopher as Franklin, as ingenious a physi- 
cian as Rush ; yet all these eminent talents would be 
of little use to me or to others, because I should not have 
time to impro'ue them. But, distributed as now they 
are most wisely, among the mass of the citizens, one 
talent to this^ and another to that^ they are all cultivat- 
ed to the highest perfection, and consequently prove 
eminently useful both to the possessor and to the 
public. 

This endearing view of human kind, this looking on 
our neighbour as ourself, kindly multiplied into many 
members, for mutual good, must show us, as with the 
brightness of a sun-beam, what a horrid thing it is for 
one man needlessly to hurt another ! What a most hor- 
rible abuse of God's goodness, most monstrous perver- 
sion of his blessed design, to abuse, to curses, those very 
talents which he gave us for blessings to one another ! 

That power, which God gave you to protect your in- 
nocent brethren, will you abuse it to overawe and to 
frighten them out of their rights? 

That superior genius, which he gave you to instruct 
the ignorant, and to lead you to virtue and happiness, can 
you debase and prostitute it to the vile purposes of fraud 
a,nd over-reaching ? 

That precious gift of speech, which was given you to 
hold sweet converse with your brethren, can you, most 
wickedly, abuse it to blast their characters, and to make 
their very appearance odious ? 

That wealth, which was given that you might be a 



16 

guardian angel to the poor, will you, like a demon, abuse 
it to their corruption and ruin ? 

That courage, which was lent you to defend your in- 
jured countrymen, can you, most horribly, abuse it to 
their destruction, in brutish battles, and worse than devil- 
ish duels? 

What if you were to see the teeth tearing the flesh from 
the bleeding arms, or the arms stabbing and mangling the 
quivering body, would not the very sight freeze the blood 
in your veins, and fill your souls with horror ? how then 
must it affect, how torture the soul of humanity, to see us 
men, whom God placed here to live in love, thus dread- 
fully abusing our powers to curse each other's existence, 
and to crush one another into untimely graves ? Poor de- 
luded mortals ! we may call ourselves MEN of honour, 
but surely it will be more tolerable, in the day of judg- 
ment, for bloody savages, than for such men of honour. 

This great doctrine, " the natural equality of men," 
founded in our equal \Nm\ts, and ^^wa/ inability to supply 
them without brotherly union and co-operation, suggests 
the great duty of exerting ourselves for the common be- 
nefit. He who neglects this deserves not to be called a 
good man, for he withholds from the community the bles- 
sings which he might confer, and, by meanly withdraw- 
ing his shoulders from the common burden, he cruelly 
throws too g^eat a part of it upon others. Such a man, 
instead of rising, as is foolishly imagined, by such a life of 
idleness and dissipation, degrades himself into the condi- 
tion of an ungrateful beggar, who lives upon the labours 
of others without making any return. 

And besides, what can sink a man more, even in his 
own .eyes, tharl the recollection that he has done nothing 
to serve his neighbours ; to benefit his poor relations ; to 
educate and establish his own children ; or to advance the 
interest and glory of his country : in fine, that he has bu- 
ried his talents ; defeated the kind intentions of Heaven 
in bestowing them ; and that, if he were cut off by death, 
his place would not be missed, nay, the world would be 
happily delivered from a useless burden ? 



17 

On the other hand, what nobler satisfaction can a ge- 
nerous mind enjoy than in the reflection, that no day 
passes over his head but sees him diligently employed in 
promoting his own and the happiness of mankind ; that 
he not only supplies others with many of the good things 
of this life, but endeavours, by his good example, to raise 
their joyful views to a far brighter world ? An exalting 
consideration this, and one equally open to the poor and 
to rich : for as, in the natural body, the smallest joint, 
the smallest nerve and fibre, contribute to the strength^ 
elegance^ SLudusefuhiess of the whole: so, in the social body, 
the general peace and happiness depend on the good be- 
haviour of the lo^ver classes, especially as these are by far 
the most numerous. Hence, it is not to be doubted, that 
the meanest labourer, the poorest slave, v/ho cheerfully 
exerts himself in the duties of his place, has a right to 
share, with the most exalted of the sons of men, that glo- 
rious title, the friend of mankind, and the servant of God. 

This great doctrine, " the natural equality of men," 
sweeps away all ground of pride from the rich, and of 
dejection from the poor. 

Some of the great nabobs of the earth, long accus- 
tomed to the cap-ill-band homage of the poor, may not 
perhaps like to be told that there is no difference be- 
tween the rich lord in his silks, and the poor black- 
smith in his leather apron ; no odds between the learn- 
ed doctor in his velvet cap and slippers, and the un- 
lettered ploughman in his humble fearnought. 

Inconsiderate mortal ! who can take airs upon your- 
self and despise your poor brother, because he is ig- 
norant and you learned. You understand Latin and 
Greek ! and can talk of comets and eclipses! and yet, 
after all, the cobler is a more independent man than 
you are, for he can do better without your comets and 
eclipses, without your hie, hsec, hoe's, than you can 
without his shoes. 

And you, my monied friend, who are pleased to 
suppose yourself quite independent of mechanics and 
tradesmen, worth a host of blacksmiths, butchers, and 



18 

bakers, 8^c. ; suppose these good people Mere all to 
rise up in wrath, and swear by their sledge-hammers, 
awls, and ovens, that you should have no more meat, 
bread, nor clothes ; no more elegant houses, earpets, 
or plate, what would become of" you ? Unable, like 
them, to work, and }et ashamed to beg, what a sad 
chop- fallen figure you would make ! 

I'ver)' thing iihows the natuVal ecpuility of man. If 
the philosopher confer a favour on the ploughman by 
inventing for him a ]>lough, the ploughman requites 
the favour by usii\g it, and thereby supplying the phi- 
losopher with bread. If the artist do a good service 
to the sailor by building hini a ship, the sailor comes 
a/o/i^sule of him again, by navigating his ship through 
the stormy ocean, and bringing him the rich commodi- 
ties of foreign countries. Thus we all depend on each 
other like the links in a golden chain, which, though 
not all precisely of the same size, are yet equally es- 
sential to the beauty and integrity of the whole. Break 
but one link, and the rest are of but little use. Thus, 
take away any one class of the citizens, c. g. the cul- 
tivators of the earth, and what should we do for 
bread ? Take away our mechanics, and of how many 
ro/ivcnic/ict's should vve be deprived! Take away our 
men of genius, and what a number of noble arts and 
inventions should we lose ! Take away our poets, 
painters, and musicians, and how many sweet embel- 
lishments A\ould be lost to social life! And if our gal- 
lant seamen and soldiers, our Truxtuns, Tingeys, &c. 
were to be taken from us, how insecure would be all 
the riches, elegances, and pleasures acquired by the 
ingenuity and industry of the other classes! Thus, as, 
in the natural body, no member could be amputated 
without great detiiment to the whole, so, in the social 
bod}', no class of the citizens could be taken away 
without great detriment to the rest. Thus has God, 
the common parent, removed far from us all ground 
of pride on the part of the rich, and of dejection on 
the part of the poor : ^'Tbc ricb and the poor, says Solo- 



19 

mon, 7neet together, the Lord Is the maker of them ail.'" 
In his view all good men are equally honourable, and 
none of them is more or less worthy than another, 
but in so tar as ho discharg-cs or neglects the part al- 
lotted him, and increases or diminishes the sum of 
general happiness. 

Since then no individual has either time or talents to 
procure the materials of a happy life, without anafteetion- 
ate union with his fellow-men in society, it is very plain 
that God intended man for society, and it is as plainly 
his intention that good laws and government should be 
introduced among them. As in the human body those 
numberless sinews which give it all its motions are not 
left at liberty to distort and convi;lse it at pleasure, but 
are w isely contincd by ligamentous bandages, which will 
not allow their irregular and dangerous cramps : just 
so, the nicmbcrs c^t" the political bod\' require to be re- 
strained h'om all huiil'iil actions, and to be coiifuicd \\ ilhia 
the bounds of their duty and usefulness. The \veakness 
of human nature renders this necessary ; for when men, 
leaving their caves and dens, fust came together, they 
were neither Solomons nor saints, but a rude, selfish race, 
too ready to lay light hands on A\hatever pleased them, 
raid hcav\ hands on all ^vho displeased them : and at this 
day there are but too many of the same Mohawk prin- 
ciples, utterly unfit to be turned loose on society without 
the curb of law. Yes, the iron restraint of hws is ne- 
cessary ; and laws require rulers to execute them : for 
it would never do for a whole country to quit their 
ploughs, and convene to make laws to punish criminals. 
Certain persons must be elected by the pco]5le, and invest- 
ed with their authority, to make good laws, and to sec 
them rigorously executed, " /o the terror of einl doers^ 
and to f/ir praise of them that do reel!.'''' 

Hence appears the exceeding obligation of civil obedi- 
ence ; an obligation the greatest of all others, our duty to 
God excepted. Indeed this constitutes a very consider- 
able part of our duty to him ; for God desires, above all 
things, the happiness of mim. But, as man cannot be 



20 

happy without society, nor society secure without laws, 
nor laws effectual without rulersj nor rulers beneficial 
unless they are dutifully obeyed, it follows, that civil 
obedience is infinitely pleasing to God. 'Tis the accom- 
plishment of Kis favourite ivish^ and therefore he looks on 
it as paid to himself, and very justly too : for as we are 
to be their subjects, God has been pleased to delegate to 
us the power to chuse such laws and rulers as we shall 
think most likely to make ourselves happy. And since, 
in chusing these, we are but using the right which God 
himself put into our hands, expressly to make ourselves 
happy, according to his blessed will, it follows that the 
rulers which we chuse are, in fact, of tjod's chusing. 
'-'■ Let every soul (cries that noblest of patriots, St. Paul) 
he subject to the higher powers (the rulers), for they are 
ordained of God {yts^ surely, when chosen by the majority 
of the people). Whosoever^ therefore., resisteth the rulers^ 
resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall 
receive to themselves datnnation.'''': No wonder that the 
great Preserver of men is so anxious that we should du- 
tifully obey our rulers, for it is indeed the greatest of all 
social blessings ; the grand principle of union, strength, 
order, peace, and happiness to a nation. Embraced in this 
golden band, we are no lon^tr feeble, crumbled indivi- 
duals, but the force of rtiillions is collected and exerted 
as a mighty man. The ample shield of a nation's power 
is spread over each virtuous character. Under its aw- 
ful shade we enjoy safety and peace. The sons of violence 
are curbed ; the bloody effects of individual rage and 
resentment are happily checked. The weakest, if inno- 
cent, is a match for the mightiest, having the force of the 
whole community to take his part. And, besides, clasped 
in the fostering bosom of his country, he can partake of 
all the conveniences and pleasures procured by the art 
and industry of his fellow-citizens, and, at the same time, 
following his own favourite business, he can gather the 
rich fruits of it for his own and the good of others. 
Thus secure in each other's protection, thus abundant and 
happy in the sweet rew^ards of their mutual labours, they 



21 

can eat, drink, and rejoice together like brothers, under 
the shade of their own vine and fig-tree, none daring to 
make them afraid. 

O how goodly a thing it is, to see a whole nation living 
thus together in unity ! A single instrument of music, 
artfully touched, afibrds much delight ; but how much 
more delightful to hear a hundred different instruments 
all mingling their sweet notes in one grand concert ! So 
to see 072e man living p7md€ntly and happily., affords a 
heartfelt satisfaction ; but to see thousands and millions 
living harmoniously together, under the same excellent 
laws, all cheerfully engaged at their several works, 
and moving on smoothly in their proper ranks ; the 
rulers wisely leading, and the people dutifully fol- 
lowing, and all lovingly exerting themselves to make 
one another happy ; oh ! this is a spectacle worthy the 
eyes of blessed angels ! Nay, God himself looks down, 
delighted, upon them ; the Father of the universe re- 
gards them with smiles of complacency. He sees the 
travail of his soul^ and is satisfied. 

Since so many and such precious pleasures and advan- 
tages arise from good government, what virtuous man 
can otherwise than most cheerfully pay his part of the 
TAXES necessaiy to its support? O, let us not wait till 
Justice, knitting her brow, declares, that, since we derive 
so much from government, we are bound in equity to 
contribute to its maintenance ; let us not wait till the 
great lover of men thunder forth his orders — '•'' for this 
cause (the welfare of government) pay you taxes also., for 
they are God''s ministers attending on this very thing. ^"^ 
No, let this generous sentiment, let a grateful sense of 
the numberless blessings we receive from our excellent 
government, render it a pleasure to us to contribute to its 
support, its honour, and peace. In no country have the 
people such reason to pay their taxes cheerfully as in this; 
for in no country do they derive so much from govern- 
ment, or pay so little to it. 

In Great Britain, which is thought to be the happiest 
government in Europe, they tax tx^rj thing ; even the 



elements cannot escape them. They tax the air above^ 
the earth beneath, and the waters under the earth. And, 
as if all this was not enough, as if wearied of this piece- 
meal kind of work, they have made lately a short apo- 
plectic stroke at once often per cent, ad valorem, that is, 
one hundred dollars out of the thousand every year ! in 
addition to a thousand little hectic taxes besides! If they 
kindle a fire for the little trembling children, they must pay 
a tax for the hearth. If they let in a ray of heaven's light, 
they must pay tax for the window. If they keep mare, 
horse, or gelding, they must pay taoc for stretching their 
sinews while living ; and tax also for tanning their hides 
when dead. Even for a making of coffee ; for a dipping 
of candles ; for trying up a pot of lard ; or brewing a tub 
of beer, &c., &c., there is a tax. In short, no good man 
can look over the British tax tables without sadness and 
tears. But in this country, thanks to God, our taxes are 
so very few and trifling, as justly to excite our astonish- 
ment. That a man dwelling in a comfortable house, 
rated at 150 dollars, a plantation of 500 acres (called a 
principality in Europe), and 3 valuable slaves, making in 
all 3000 dollars, should be taxed scarcely 3 dollars for 
the whole ! ! Is not this most astonishing? And are there 
Americans who can think this oppressive, who can refuse 
to pay it ! can threaten the sacred officers of government, 
just for asking this well-earned pittance, thus flying in 
the venerable face of the parent country, blowing up the 
flames of a bloody and expensive htsurrection ? O, tell it 
not in England ! publish it not in the streets of Paris I 
lest tjie toil-worn porters, throwing their heavy burdens 
from their backs, stamp on the earth in wrath, and curse 
us- all for fools. 

Many of the poor, to my knowledge, are not quite so 
cheerful in paying their taxes as good citizens ought to 
be, because they have been taught (God forgive their 
teachers) that all the money goes to the president and to 
the quALiTY, I. c. the great folks. This is so far from 
being true, that the very reverse of it is true ; that is, in- 
stead of the poor paying taxes for the rich, the rich pay 



23 

taxes for the poor. The realhj poor pay nothing ; nay, 
those in circumstances that may be called comfortable pay 
nothing, e. g. with 99 dollars and 99 cents you may build 
a very snug house, a much better one than Abraham, 
Isaac, or Jacob ever lived in, and in which you and your 
loving dame, with half a score chubby, rosy- cheeked boys 
and girls may live as merry as crickets, and yet your 
country does not ask you a cent for your house, the scene 
of all this innocent mirth. But Mr. Bingham, of Phila- 
delphia, one of the (quality, living in a house that cost 
30,000 dollars, pays no less than 270 dollars yearly. 

Again ; you own a heavy waggon and team : with this, 
Jchu-like, you rattle along the highways, tear up the 
roads, break down the bridges, and set the poor road- 
<menders to cursing and swearing, and, after all, what is 
your tax ? Why not even a sharp-shin^ ! But lo ! here 
comes one of the quality, in a little gim-crack phaeton 
and Lilliputian pair, not a tythe the substance of your 
waggon, a carriage that makes no more impression on the 
roads, than does a cat running over a harpsichord, and yet 
this gentleman pays a tax of 9 dollars. 

No ! my brothers, if you be really poor, you pay no- 
thing ; even though your poverty should be owing to 
your own shameful love of ease, or of w^hiskey, you pay 
nothing. Your dear country, like the strong eagle of 
heaven, gathers you^ her poorest birds, her unfledged nest- 
lings, under her wings, and imparts to you her vital warmth 
and strong protection, with no other motive than love ; 
for no other pay than the pleasure of doing it. O then let 
not, for gratitude, for justice sake, let not the sons of 
Belial deceive you by bringing up an evil report against 
this good land. But admitting that you were treated as are 
the poor in many countries, where the neediest widow is 
obliged to throw in her mite, the wretchedest Lazarus 
his crumb or his scab for the support of government ; ad- 
mitting, 1 say, that you were constrained to pay taxes, 

* A Virginia coin, worth 4 cents, the usual douceur to a negro 
boy for cleaning your boots- 



24 

do you thiiik that they would all go to the presideni 
and to the quality ? No, not a cent beyond what was 
their well-earned right. As every vein in the body sends 
on its tax of blood to the heart, the great treasury, from 
whence it is quickly driven on again, through the large and 
small arteries, to each well-fed fibre in the system ; so, un- 
der our constitution, which nearly resembles the human 
body (that most perfect of all God's works), every dollar 
that is taken up by those grand absorbents, the sheriffs, is 
carried straight on to the treasury, whence, in a very few 
pulsations, it is distributed among the servants of the 
public ; those wise and brave men whom you yourselves 
have chosen to superintend your laws, or to fight your 
battles. And, my dear countrymen, if you did but con- 
sider what cost, fatigue, and danger those gentlemen en- 
counter to serve you, you could not, I am sure, grudge 
your mite to reward them. A part of this little money, 
that each of you gives, goes to your judges, your assem- 
bly-men, your senators, 8cc. Now do but reflect how 
many thousands of dollars these gentlemen have laid out 
on their education and libraries to enable them to cope 
with the long-headed Pitts and Talleyrands of Europe. 

Consider, also, the brain- racking, spirit- wasting, flesh- 
consuming study, these poor gentlemen are obliged to 
undergo for your sakes : as a proof of this, look at your 
Madisons, Marshalls, &c. ; see what pale, pensive, Wer- 
TER-looking countenances they generally wear, obliged 
every year almost to push off" to the springs to brace up 
their lax fibres. 

A part of your small taxes goes to your brave soldiers, 
and to your gallant seamen ; your Truxtuns, your Tin- 
gey s, &c. Noble fellows, who have exchanged their wives 
and smiling babes for the gloomy waves, that they may 
there enjoy the heroic pleasu?'e of meeting your enemies. 
Consider what they undergo for you. While " ^ou are 
on your down-beds lying, fondly locWd in beauty'' s arms,''^ 
they, poor fellows, may be preparing for very different 
scenes, making ready for bloody battle. See the hostile 
man of war bearing down upon them. The hearts of the 



25 

youthful warriors palpitate, while the blood comes and 
goes in their cheeks ; but the love of their country, the 
justice of their cause, and a noble sense of honour brace 
them up as with triple steel. ' ' All hands to quarters — 
fore and aft^ a clear ship — uphammocks — light the matches y 
and stand by to wake the thunder — now^ my hearts^ be stout 
and bold.'''' The flag of Columbia waves over their heads ; 
the heroes eye the beloved stripes. The smile of joy is 
on their countenances, and the fire of valour flashes from 
their eyes. They demand the fight. The tall black ship 
of the enemy is now close along side ; her tremendous 
artillery stares them in the face, yawning destruction. 
The dreadful fray begins ; the air is rent with their hor- 
rid thunder. Old Ocean trembles, and lowers all her 
waves. The ships are wrapped in flaming fires, while 
storms of iron bullets dash every thing to pieces. The 
decks are covered with mangled corses, and the scuppers 
run torrents of blood. But lo ! the mortal strife is end- 
ed, and Columbia is victor. But, alas ! what avails it that 
her flag rides triumphant ? many of her bravest sons lie 
low. Hearts that glowed with heavenly fire, that beat 
high with the love of their country ; muscles that were 
gloriously strained at the four and twenty pounders fight- 
ing for you, my brothers ; these now lie in mangled heaps, 
hardly known that they ever were men ; their dearest 
blood mingling with the briny wave, their precious limbs 
soon to be tossed to devouring sharks ! Oh, my country- 
men, can we think of these things, and yet deem it hard 
to pay a tax of one little dollar in the thousand to our gal- 
lant brothers, who thus, at the expence of their lives, se- 
cure to us the other nine hundred and ninety- nine ? 

But, not only on account of the exceeding moderatioTi 
of our taxes, but also of their amazingly equal distribu- 
tion, we have reason to pay them with more cheerfulness 
than any people on earth. In other countries, the politi- 
cal body is so grown out of all proportion, the head and 
larger limbs are so bloated with fat, while the inferior 
members are so shrivelled for nourishment, that it is hard 
for a cordial love to grow between them. 



26 

That a bishop should receive his 10 or 15,0001. ster- 
ling per ann., should ride in his coach, live in his palace, and 
keep up a constant carnwaU while his poor brother levite is 
obliged to lent it all the year on a pitiful curacy of 201. 

That a king should receive his twenty or thirty hun- 
dred thousand dollars per ann. while the mechanic is hard 
put to it for bread ! and, after all his toih and sorrows, is 
scarcely able to keep his family out of prison or a poor, 
house ; and, as if all this was not enough, that the go- 
vernment should suffer a host of pensioners and sine, 
cures-men, each with a large salary, to be clapped, like 
so many elegant cupping-glasses, on the vitals of the peo- 
ple. 

Who could suffer this without a decline of love for his 
country, or, indeed, without feeling that love turned into 
detestation ? 

But, oh happy Americans ! we groan under none of 
these iniquitous impositions to wean us from our coun- 
try ; with us the political body still preserves its exquisite 
shape and symmetry : the head is not bloated, the feet are 
not starved. Our public officers (the head) are furnished 
with plenty, but not excess*; while our common citizens 
(the feet and hands) may, if industrious, have enough and 
to spare. 

Another consideration, which must rivet the souls of 
all reasonable men to our constitution, is that charming 
delicacy, that p?'oJbn?id and equal respect with which she 
treats the religious opinions of her children. Even in 
that government which is looked on as the most equitable 



* Few of our public ofiicers, viz., our judges, members of assem- 
bly, senate, congress, Sec, are allowed more than they could make by 
their respective professions, many not so much. And as to our good 
president, though his 25,000 dollars have made a great noise, yet 'tis 
questionable; whether it be a cent too much. He is placed in a situa- 
tion of all others the most public and expensive. His levee, his tablci 
Sec, must consume vast sums. It were high treason in him to eat 
his venison, or to drink his INIadeira by himself. He is expected to 
act the national publican, to keep open house, and to entertain comers 
from all the winds of heaven. Think of that, my brothers. 



27 

ill all Europe (I mean Great Britain), the people are at 
daggers- drawn about religion ! The established church 
insisting on the dissenters to think of God Almighty, and 
to worship him just as tliey do, or to pay a fine ! Oh ! 
this is a shameful thing ; a dreadful drawback on patri- 
otism ! What ! shall I sweat and bleed in support and de- 
fence of my country, and, when I expected her sweetest 
smiles, her kindest caresses, shall she, most ungratefully, 
reject my petition to say what prayers I think best ; shall 
she look tamely on and see my heard-earned substance 
sold by the sheriff, to swell the princely revenue of some 
bishop, to whose church I belong not ? He must be an 
Israelite indeed, in whom there is no gall, whom this 
w^ould not provoke to detest his country as a cruel step- 
mother, and to turn his back on her for ever. But, thanks 
to God, we have none of these pontifical villanies to wean 
our affections from our country, or from one another. 
We are perfectly at liberty to worship our Maker, every 
man according to the dictates of his own conscience, and, 
provided we act up to the high character of ^ooc/ citizens, 
our excellent constitution stands equally a wall of fire 
around all, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, Christians 
or Mahometans. 

Oh, my beloved mother country ! my soul embraces 
thee with more than filial ardour for this thy ivise and 
equal love to all us thy dutiful children, and for that thou 
allowest no establishment to create heart-burnings 
among us, no merciless fanatic with fire and faggot to 
destroy us. 

And, oh, my dear brothers, natiiie or adopted sows of 
Columbia ! if ever people on earth were under particu- 
lar obligations to love their government we are that 
people. Compared with those of other nations, our go- 
vernment shines like the hill of Zion, and breathes 
abroad her fragrance like a field which the Lord hath 
blessed. 

" When I look around me (says the Rev. Dr. Chan- 
dler, one of the ornaments both of English learning and 
piety) on the present kings of Europe^ I am apt to ask 



28 

myself, what is there in most of them that should make 
their subjects wish their lives, or regret their deaths ? 
Actuated by ambition or revenge, or sunk in indolence 
and pleasure, they waste the riches of their people in 
the most abominable extravagance and dissipation ; or 
rush their subjects into war, to the certain murder and 
ruin of thousands of them. And as to our own kings, 
some of them involved us in all the calamities of civil 
wars ; others impoverished and oppressed us by illegal 
exactions ; and the generality of them, either by their 
own choice, or led by wicked ministers, sacrificed the 
national interest to their own accursed ambition, re- 
venge, and debauchery." 

Comparing with this the condition of our own dear 
country, who without tears of gratitude can reflect on 
that benignant Power, which not only conducted us 
in safety through our perilous war against Britain, but 
enabled us, far beyond our Jirst and most sanguine 
expectations, to establish ourselves free and inde- 
pendent states; and then mercifully disposed us, 
without struggle or bloodshed, to erect over our own 
heads, and the heads of our dear children, the sacred ca- 
nopy of a republican government; securing to all alike 
the inestimable blessings of liberty, property, and reli- 
gion; and, by holding open to all alike the sacred door 
of self-advancement, best promotes brotherly love, 
with all her graces ; industry, with all her treasures ; 
LEARNING, with all her precious truths; and whatever 
tends to the highest perfection and, happiness of man 
in this world, and consists with his best preparation 
for endless happiness in the world to come. 

Oh, blessed land oi well-secured liberty ,!:»{ equal laws, 
of moderate taxes, and of universal toleration! what 
dutiful son can think of all these thy truly republican 
fa'Dours without clasping thee to his heart as of God that 
dearest, best of mothers, who gave us birth, and lavishes 
on us such a profusion of every earthly good ! Or 
what prodigal son, who considers the husks fed on by 
the poor in other lands, and the plenteousness of bread 



I 



29 

at thy table, oh Columbia, but must instantly exclaim, 
*' Surely the lot is fallen to me in a pleasant place ; yea^ 
I have a goodly heritage. The Lord hath crowned my 
table with fat things, and caused my cup to run over with 
choice wine.'' ^ 

It has been well said, that " the trimmings of a 
monarchy would maintain a republic.^'' The truth is, 
monarchies tend as naturally to extravagance as stones 
do to roll down a hill. For knowing, in the first 
place, that their thrones are founded on the slippery 
balls o^ fraud and force, they prudently take care to 
block them up by numerous grandees, such as lords 
secular and lords spiritual, captains of hundreds and 
captains of thousands ; for rich maintenance of whom 
millions are to be raised, and, of course, at the ex- 
pence of the people! This is one step to their impo- 
verishment, but it is a mere bagatelle in comparison 
of the next. For knowing, in the second place, that 
there is nothing of wisdom and virtue in their govern- 
ment to merit the regards of their people, they make 
a push for it in an easier way. They set the whole 
nation a-gape on their equipage and retinue. Through 
town and country, nothing is talked of like the " king^s 
parks and palaces; the ki?ig''s gold plate and Jewels.^* 
This clinches the nail of their depression and poverty. 
For when a nation, instead of honouring the divine at- 
tributes of wisdom and goodness in their king, turn 
to worship him for his outward pomp and pride, then 
are they like the stupid Israelites, who turned from the 
living God to worship dead idols ; and then also, like 
those same stupid Israelites, that foolish nation is near 
to reprobation, and on the high road to poverty, both 
in principle and purse. For their golden calf thus 
worshipped, I mean their monarch, knowing that his 
gold is the main spring that keeps his puppet nation a 
dancing around him, his aurum fulminans, or magic 
powder, that continues his racket through the realm, 
becomes tenfold more rapacious of his people's mo- 
ney, that he may become tenfold more splendid and 



30 

noisy in his shows. And as man is a whoreson sort 
of an animal, prodigiously given to imitation, these 
fine capers, which the stupid people enable their gold- 
en calf to cut, are soon followed by the whole seed, 
breed, and generation of the beastly herd. For the 
king, to be sure, sets the fashion ; the sachems follow 
the king ; the dignified powvows follow the sachems; 
and then in falls the whole tribe, where every man that 
can raise a feather and an ounce of pocoon paint, af- 
fects to be a great captain. 

The consequence of all this is as plain as it is la- 
mentable. This universal pride quickly begets uni- 
versal poverty — and this again, as physically, begets 
misery — and this again, by operation morally certain, 
begets obduracy — the cold unfeeling heart. Hence 
the hindmost runners in this miserable race of pride 
and extravagance (all following hard after the king), if 
they should be thrown out by flying the way of blessed 
honesty, or if, through sickness or lack of employ- 
ment, they should stumble and fall, they are often left 
to suffer, and even to starve. 

Volney, who, though in divinity a heretic, yet, 
certes, in history a divine ; Volney, I say, assures us, 
that he once saw, without the walls of the once-flou- 
rishing Damascus, two human beings, pale, naked, 
and brutalized (under a Turkish tyrant), contending 
with hungry dogs over the carcase of a dead camel ! ! 

That German Shakspeare, the amiable Kotzebue, de- 
clares (and oh ! that the proud unfeeling tyrants of Europe 
would but hearken) that on the 24th of December, 
the very eve of the nativity of the incarnate God, coming 
with his angels shouting " peace and good-will among 
men;'''' that, on Christmas eve, Avhen the hearts of all chris- 
tians are more than usually disposed to cheerfulness and 
hospitality ; that on Christmas eve, in the year 1804, he 
saw, in the city of Naples, a female perishing of want in 
the street ! " A group of people," says he, " were around 
her : drawn by strong kindred feelings, I hastened up to 
the spot where she lay, a pale, emaciated, rag- covered, 



31 

miserable skeleton of a woman about forty. " Poor crea- 
ture /" whispered all around me ; '■''poor creature, she is 
dying of hunger /" I was seized with a horror indescri- 
bable. Like one distracted, I called on all around, for 
God's sake, for mercy's sake, to give help. My purse 
was but light, but such as it was I pressed it upon the 
owner of the next door to allow her to be taken in. The 
monster shook his head ! The people, after gratifying their 
curiosity for a moment, all most brutishly went away. 
But it is a sweet consolation to me that the dying person 
understood my motions, if not my words, for her looks 
were rivetted on me with tenderness ; and I was the last 
object on which her closing eyes with tears were fixed. 
While I continued by her, waiting for the officers to 
come and take her dead body a^\"ay, I saw the king pass 
by, returning from the chace, with, twenty or thirty dogs, 
all in excellent order ! ! ! !" 

That celebrated physician and philanthropist, doctor 
Lettsom, a friend indeed ! a ivise runner ! who not 
idly " beats the air^' for vain notions, and dead faiths, and 
beggarly elements, which Paul forbids, but, like a hea- 
venly footman, runs for the high prize of pure love, re- 
lates the following story : 

** As I stepped out of my house," says the doctor, " I 
was accosted by a tall thin man, whose countenance ex- 
hibited such a picture of distress and poverty as fixed my 
attention, and induced me to inquire into his situation. 
He informed me that he was a day labourer, just recover- 
ing from sickness, and that, feeble as he then was, to pro- 
cure food for a sick family, he was obliged to seek for, and 
to exert himself much beyond his strength ; and added, 
that he lived in Aldersgate street. This poor object 
seemed to feel distress too deeply to be an impostor ; and 
I could not avoid giving him something for his present 
relief; for which he retired bowing, with tears in his eyes. 
But when he was gone, his image came before me ; and 
I was then sorry that I had not gi^^en him more, and this 
determined me to go the next day and find him out. 
With some difficulty I groped my way up a dark passage 



32 

and staircase to a little chamber, wherein this poor man 
and his family lived. But what words can express my 
feelings at sight of the poverty and wretchedness of the 
afflicted group that then lay before me ? An old box was 
the only article that served for a chair ; a piece of old tick- 
en spread on the floor, with a worn-out blanket, formed 
the only couch whereon this destitute family could lay 
their heads to rest. And what a scene did they present ! 
Near the centre of the bed lay the mother with half a 
shift, and covered as high as the middle with a blanket. 
She was incapable of telling her complaints. The spit- 
tle, for want of some fluid to moisten her mouth, had 
dried upon her lips, which, as well as the gums, were 
black with the putrid fever. At another end of the 
blanket was extended a girl about five years old. It had 
rolled from under this covering, and was totally naked, 
except its back, on which a blister-plaster was tied by a 
piece of pack-thread ; and, though labouring under this 
dreadful fever, the poor creature was asleep. On one 
side of its mother lay a naked boy about two years old ; 
this little innocent was likewise sleeping. On the other 
side of the mother lay a girl about twelve years old. The 
fever had not bereaved her of her senses ; she was con- 
stantly moaning out, "0/ I shall die for drink ! water ! 
water ! pray give me some water /" Near her stood ano- 
ther girl about four years old, having, for her only cover- 
ing, a loose piece of petticoat thrown over her shoulders ; 
and to this infant it was that her sister was crying for 
water*! !" 

In Ireland, this miserable picture has been seen with 
aggravations. The family, sick, naked, without food or 
assistance, and lying on dirty straw ! 

* What a contrast between this scene, and that exhibited in per- 
haps the very next day's newspaficr, chaunting, in all the fulsome 
strains of fainting^ dying admiration, the wondrous splendours of 
the king's hoicse-iuarmi?ig, which cost Ji/ty thousand fiounds sterling ! 
Is this great gentleman to be hated ? Oh no ! infinitely the reverse. 
The eye that catches a luxury from the widow's or the orphan's 
smile, will weep for the king. 



33 

What generous American can think of these things 
without pouring forth his double flood of tears — tears of 
sorrow for the miseries of others, and tears of gratitude 
for the matchless mercies lavished on us ? 

" Not more than others we deserve, 
Yet God hath given us more ; 
For we abound, while millions starve, 
Millions of foreign /zoc?-." 

While other nations, many of them at least, are confined 
to narrow nooks, or islands insufficient to ^'ield them 
bread, God hath enlarged our borders, and spread abroad 
our habitation even from the mountains to the great seas. 
Other nations, if cut off from commerce, would pre- 
sently pine and perish by thousands ; while we, O thanks 
to God, though driven from the ocean by European 
violence, may yet he safe and happy. We may turn 
our eyes to the fertile south and west, and, after filling 
up all the intermediate country, we may then from our 
hills, like ancient Israel from the heights of Jordan, survey 
our vast transalpine plains, the destined Canaan of millions 
yet unborn. " There^^^ with hearts overrunning with gra- 
titude and joy we may say, " there is room enough, and em- 
ployment for all ; employment, not as in crowded mo- 
narchies, servilely asked, insultingly given, and precari- 
ously held ; _but the sure and independent employment of 
cultivating the earth, even a land peculiarly blessed of 
Heaven ; a land of short winters and long summers ; of 
soils and climes fitted to the growth of all vegetable nature, 
and yielding ever}^ necessary and delight of human life, 
from the hardy grain and fat meats of New England, to 
the rich roots and fruits of Georgia ; and in such endless 
variety, that our staff of bread, of some kind or other, 
has never been known to fail. Yearly, our trees have 
been made to bend under the vveight of their delicious 
fruits ; yearly, our corn, that noblest son of the furrows, 
has been made " to exalt his horn" of praise to Him 
who filled his big shock with ^o«r; insomuch that even 
while princes in other countries have been obliged to use 
coarse roots, and even powdered barks and fsb bones, 
for bread, we have been heaped with fine wheaten 



c> 



i 



loaves and to spare ; the teeth of our little ones have 
been white with milk, and the eyes of our aged have 
sparkled with the pleasant juice of the grape. 

" O that x\merica would therefore but praise th€ 
Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that 
he hath done for the people of our land!" 

But how shall we manifest our sense of his good- 
ness ? Shall we do it by splitting into parties, and 
mortally hating one another ? No ; God forbid ; 
for a furious party spirit is the greatest judg- 
ment, the heamest curse that can befal our country. — - 
It extinguishes love in the best hearts, and, in the 
worst, blows up the coals of hatred to tenfold fury. — 
It makes even good men shy of one another, and 
breaks off the sweetest friendships. This vile spirit 
deforms every thing. By giving a hardness to the 
features and fierceness to the eyes, it turns the loveliest 
woman into a fright, and the comeliest man into a de- 
mon.- — It pollutes the most sacred places, introducing 
unnatural strifes even there where sweetest harmony 
should ever prevail- — in our streets and at our tables. 
It fills our newspapers, which were meant to be the 
vehicles of innocent amusement and calm instructionj 
with the bitterest abuse. — -It confounds all the great 
distinctions of ivortb and villanj' in characters ; the 
vilest creature, if oh our side, is cried up as an angel ; 
while an angel, if he oppose us, though never so de- 
cently, is branded as a miscreant! — It corrupts our taste; 
the dirtiest gazetteer, if he blackguard for us, is 
applauded as a Junius, while a Junius, i( agai?ist us, is 
execrated as a mere Grub- street. — It banishes all se?iseo{ 
gratitude, justice, and truth ; what signifies the purest 
inf2oce?ice, the uprightest intentions, the greatest abilities, 
the profoundest learning ? if opposed to us, they vanish 
into nothing ; the greatest abilities are hooted at, the 
brightest virtues are not seen, the longest andjaitb- 
fullest services are all forgotten ! — -Under the bias of 
this most disingenuous spirit, Jefferson is an empty pe- 
dant, Franklin an old fool, Adams a British agent, and 
Washington — let faction write the rest ! It ruins 



55 

all our public affairs ; the blessed end of society and 
government is Xo unite men m pr07noting their viutuai 
interest^ but the aim of party spirit is to disunite them 
entirely. Overlooking the general good, the study of 
■each faction (I mean the designing men) is, to advance 
their own separate strength^ and to sink their oppo- 
nents in the public esteem, calumniating the worthi- 
est characters, charging the wisest measures with folly, 
the best intentions with villany : thus filling the minds, 
even of honest men, with prejudices against their 
rulers, and opposition to government, which, by com- 
pelling them to use coerci'ue measures ^ bring on insur- 
rection and ci'oil war, with all their horrors, when bro- 
ther, with worse than hellish fury, shall sheathe his 
steel in his brother's heart, or call in ruthless foreign- 
ers to aid the accursed deed; and when God, the 
righteous judge, in punishment of such unnatural 
monsters, shall allow these foreigners to swallow up 
their substance, to fill their land with blood and vio- 
lence, and to fix the galling chain of slavery on them 
and their posterity for ages. 

Alas for poor Carthage ! Traveller, say I in all 
thy busy search, did thine eye behold one stone of her 
former glory standing on another : Like the land of 
our fathers, Cai'thage once shone the unrivalled queen 
of the waves, the peerless handmaid of this wide 
world's commerce. Thick as the white clouds of sum- 
mer, her ships came in from all the winds of heaven, 
laden with merchandize and gold. Her numerous 
sons, like princes, all rode on camels, while her 
daughters of beauty moved, like queens, all decked in 
rich attire. 

How like America v\as that beauteous -Carthage I^ yes, 
alas! and too much like her in other respects. Carthage 
was hated by a powerful people beyond the seas ! But 
while she continued united and true to herself, her bow 
abode in strength ; she laughed the warlike Romans to 
scorn. But, alas I faction came ; that fell destroyer of 
republics came, and all was lost. Her accursed hand 
gave easy entrance to the Roman armies. Carthage, that 



glorious city, was soon in flames — her streets ran torrents 
of blood — while thousands of shrieking virgins, and dis- 
tracted mothers, with their children at their breasts, or in 
their hands, were seen flying from the flames of their fall- 
ing houses, and from the Roman steel, red with the blood 
of their slaughtered brothers, fathers, and husbands. 

Oh, merciful God ! what American with bleeding 
heart can think of these things, without turning his brim- 
ful eye towards his own poor devoted country ! O / that 
my head were waters^ and mine eyes fountains of tearsy 
that I might weep day and night for the daughters of my 
people,''"' — " For Israel doth not know^ (complains the 
blessed God) my people will not consider.^'' 

Alas ! x\merica will not consider ! she will not consi- 
der how soon the horrid tragedy of Carthage may be act- 
ed over in this divided, ruined country. Like that mad, 
devoted city spoken of in the word of God, America is 
blind to the evil day! " Tush I" says she, " do I not sit 
as a queen F what evil can come near unto meP'' — Thus, 
though the ominous voice of discord is heard in our 
land, crying aloud in the car of wisdom, " Woe be to 
America !" yet we cannot believe that our ^'■destruction 
hasteneth.'"' 

Neither did Carthage, even in the midst of her fac- 
tions., believe it, until the Roman eagles came and devour- 
ed her up. 

Neither did Rome, even in the midst of her fact io?is, 
believe that any evil could reach her. But alas ! availing 
themselves of her divided and weak state, armies of hun- 
gry barbarians poured down from the north, numerous 
as the caterpillars and locusts of chastising Heaven — -in 
front of their march all was a garden, in their rear all a 
desert. They swallovv'cd up all the riches and glories of 
Rome, filling the country with the stench of the dead, 
and imposing chains on all the living. 

Neither did Poland, in the midst of her factions., be- 
lieve a word of her approaching ruin. But the bloody 
Suwarrow and his Russians came like murderers in the 
night. The morning sun beheld half the fine city of 
Prague reduced to smoking ruins, and her streets filled 
with blood and dead bodies, while the helpless sex, 



37 

shrieking from their windows, heard the cries of their 
brothers, husbands, and fathers perishing under the mer- 
ciless bayonets of the Russians. 

Nor did the cities of Europe believe that the French 
meant them the evil which they have since brought upon 
them. Neither did Copenhagen believe what the British 
meditated against her. But the British, notwithstand- 
ing, came with their ships of war, and bombarded and in 
part destroyed their town, and, after filling it with hor- 
rors indescribable of blood and death — -daughters seeing 

their fathers mano-led with cannon-bails — mothers be- 

. . . ^ 

holding their children torn to pieces by bursting bombs — 

and fathers looking up to their houses set on fire by red- 
hot shot — the British then went away with an immense 
booty. 

Neither may xve believe what France and England 
intend for us; though, God knows, after so long impress- 
ing and killing our citizens! and plundering our com- 
merce! and burning our ships! ^vA driving us from the 
ocean! they have clearly enough sho^vn what they would 
do with us, if they had the power. Yes, my countrymen, 
sure as the being of God, if, as our dear father Washing- 
ton warns us, " the British and French can but get us to 
break union" (the main pillar and palladium of all our 
civil, political, and religious blessings), their fleets and 
armies will be pouring in upon us, arming the slaves, 
stirring up the Indians, dividing the citizens, playing 
" STATES against ST AT Es,^^ and thus filling our country 
with murders, confiscations, and miseries never wit- 
nessed before. 

But, thanks eternal to God, this is not the case with 
us yet, nor, if we be wise, will it ever be. He created 
us for happiness, and, still faithful to his purpose, fur- 
nishes abundantly the means. These are plain, O ! let 
us love him, the fountain of all excellence and glory, with 
trwQ filial affection, and this will beget that other divine 
spirit which binds man to man, and citizens to citizens, 
in bonds (stronger than gold) of ever-during union. 

If you should ask me, what is that spirit? I an- 
swer, 'tis Love f ardent philanthropy J . This, at once 
the sweetest and strongest of all the affections, is appoint- 



38 

ed of God as the grand preservative of all societies, but 
chiefly of repubhcs ; because the people there, being 
most free, can do most harm, unless restrained by some 
secret force. This secret force, as I said, is Love ; 
which has the same benign influence on the moral world, 
that gravitation has on the natural. It counteracts the 
centrifugal and destructive tendencies of selfishness, and, 
by causing republicans to study the good of others as 
their own, it makes them all feel that " each is to each a 
dearer self;'''' and thus binds them together by a cen- 
tripetal impulse, strong and indestructible as a rock of 
granite. In short, all that Solomon says of that " righte- 
ousness which exalteth a nation ; " all that Montesquieu 
praises in that " virtue which alone pillars up republics;" 
all that Washington boasts of that " religion, whose im- 
portance to society volumes could not trace" — is " sum- 
med up in Love, the bond of perfection," and the end 
of all rehgion. This is the true " salt of the earth^''^ 
preserving all societies from the corruption of selfish 
passions. This is " the life of the world^'''' diftusing (as 
natural life does through the body) that strong fellow- 
feeling through the members, that, when " one suffers 
all the rest suffer with Jum .)'''' and are ready to fly to take 
his pai't. 

For glorious proof, look at the little republic of Spar- 
ta. To make his dear countrymen invincible, Lycurgus 
knew that he must make them love one another ; to kin- 
dle this social love, he knew he must extinguish inordi- 
nate self-love. To this great end, he divided all the lands 
equally among the citizens ; and, by creating a common- 
ness of property, and sameness of dress and diet (all ex- 
ceedingly plain), he did away pride, luxury, and strife, 
and thus brought them, in a wonderful degree, to feel the 
glowings of the brotherly spirit. This spirit, descending 
into their hearts, rendered them terrible in the field as an 
army of brothers, each fighting for lives dearer than his 
own. On the brink of battle for their country, they need- 
ed no SDcech from their sreneral to inflame their valour ; 

1 o 

one tender glance thrown back on the land of their bro- 
thers y and instantly every bosom glowed with that spirit 



39 

which '' smiles on the drawn faulchion^ and defies its 
edge." The trumpet's clangour is music in their ears, 
and they rush to the charge with eyes of lions, burning for 
slaughter. Their swords rise high in the bloody strife ; 
while, with close- compacted squadrons, they burst 
through the ranks of mercenary enemies, as the bounding 
ships through yielding weaves. 

For five hundred years, even all the time that they pos- 
sessed this brotherly spirit, they remained invincible ; 
antl stood, though but a little people, in the midst of the 
great neighbouring monarchies, like a rock in the midst 
of the ocean defying all its storms, and, from sides of ada- 
mant, easily dashmg back its loud, thundering billows. 

No country affords a nobler proof of the guardian power 
of love than our own. Turn, for example, to New Eng- 
land. 'Tis well known, that New England was settled 
by a colony who left their native Britain for conscience 
sake. To the land of their exile they brought with them 
their religion ; which, partly perhaps for want of other 
consolations, they cultivated with great zeal. Their 
week-day hours were spent in innocent and happy labours, 
and on the sabbath they all went to church, where they 
.were taught that " God is love ;" and that he who loves 
most, shall be the most happy. Suitable to such sublime 
doctrines were the morals of the hearers. Those who 
owed any thing, paid with pleasure ; those who promised, 
performed with punctuality. Superiors spoke with mild- 
ness, and inferiors obeyed with alacrity. The rich were 
like guardians to the poor, and the poor as children to the 
rich ; and whenever they met, they met like brethren, 
every man's face shining upon his neighbour. What 
was the result ? Why, the people of New England grew 
up together as one great family ; the blow that struck one 
was felt by allj and excited a rage dangerous to the strong- 
est assailant. Witness the 19th of April, 1775, when a 
thousand British regulars fired on a company of sixty- 
four militia-men, at the little town of Concord. Six of 
the militia-men were shot down. See here the effect of 
that love which is ever ready " to lay down its life for its 
friends." At the sight of their beloved neighbours wel- 



40 

tering in their blood, the rage of the farmers rose to a 
pitch that defied all consequences. They returned the 
fire upon the enemy. Though but sixty against a thou- 
sand, they returned the fire ! Every volley fired by the 
British enraged the neighbouring farmers as though it had 
been levelled at their own breasts. " The British are 
murdering our friends^'''' was the reiterated cry. Instantly, 
all who heard the cry threw down the implements of hus- 
bandry, and flew to their houses ; not to hide their plate, 
but to snatch the arms of vengeance. Pouring in from 
every quarter were seen crowds of sturdy peasants, with 
Hushed cheeks and fier}^ eyes, eager for battle. Nay, age 
itself forgot its wonted infirmites ; and hands long palsied 
with years threw aside the cushioned crutch, and grasped 
the deadly firelock. In brief, the farmers attacked the 
British regulars with such fury, that they killed and took 
nearly one-fourth of their whole number ! A striking 
proof how close men will stick together, and how desper- 
ately they will fight for one another, when thdy love. 

Americans,' think ! often think of the last words of your 
Washington — '^' Continue united, hut a few years longer^ 
and the glorious work is done. Foreigners ivill not dare 
to injure or insult you /" Think also of the awful crisis 
in Avhich you live, and that with your " union and bro- 
therly love''"' is now involved not only your own^ but the 
destiny ofiCnhorn millions.'''' Think also what your dear 
fathers did for you ! How they fought and died in battles 
against the French and English, that they might hand 
down to you the blessings of liberty unimpaired. 
And, oh ! think also of what you owe to your children ! 
Let not your guiltless posterity, clanking their galling 
chains, the fatal effects of your divisions, rise up and call 
you " accursed.'''' — " Your life is hut a vapour;'''' then 
gild it over with glorious deeds. " Fear your god" — 
*' Honour your government" — " Cleave to one 
another;" and, like the flaming angels that guarded 
the tree of life, stand as a wall of fire round your tree of 
Liberty.; wisely remembering that " without virtue life 
is pai?i and woe, and that without lihe?'ty even virtue 
mourns and looks around for happiness in vain,^^ 

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